Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close.

Ice levels had been tracking lower throughout much of 2008, but rapidly recovered in the last quarter. In fact, the rate of increase from September onward is the fastest rate of change on record, either upwards or downwards.

The data is being reported by the University of Illinois’s Arctic Climate Research Center, and is derived from satellite observations of the Northern and Southern hemisphere polar regions.

In other words, empirical observation again trumps the computer models that climate alarmists so love. Remember, 2008 was supposed to be the year in which the north polar ice vanished, thanks to man-caused global warming; climate alarmists argued (and still do) that we had to take drastic steps now before we caused a climatic catastrophe, even if it meant crippling our economies and massively expanding government control over everyday life.

Yet, time and again, the dire predictions of the Goracle and his sycophantic Greek chorus failed to come true. Global warming? Try a cooling trend. An increase in hurricanes? Try embarrassingly fewer. Glaciers shrinking? No, they’re growing. A upper-atmospheric hot spot that would be substantive proof of warming caused by greenhouse gases? Never showed up. In fact, enjoy this article on the ten worst global-warming predictions.

The nice thing about pop religion as opposed to genuine science, however, is that inconvenient truths need not get in the way. Any contrary evidence can be explained away as an anomaly that merely means the model has to be adjusted, not that it’s fundamentally flawed. Just a few changes to the inputs, a tweak or two to the equations, and all’s well. Nothing to see here, and please don’t look behind the curtain.

And don’t forget to put on a jacket before you go out to save the planet: